ATTY.
GEN. ASHCROFT: On April the 16th, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision
that did grave injury to our ability to protect children from exploitation. The
Court struck down provisions of the Child Pornography Prevention Act, a law passed
with bipartisan support in 1996.

In
its ruling, the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the law's prohibition
of virtual child pornography; that is, child pornography produced through computer
imaging technology. Tragically this decision of the Court to reverse Congress's
prohibition of virtual child pornography has left law enforcement at an extreme
disadvantage in the campaign against all child pornography.

Today
I am pleased to be joined by a bipartisan group of legislators to announce legislation
that restores the ability of law enforcement to protect children from abuse and
exploitation, consistent with the Constitution.

I
thank House Majority Whip Tom DeLay for being here today, and for his leadership
on this bill and other legislation to protect the children of America.

Senator
Jeff Sessions and Senator Sam Brownback - Senator Sessions is here with us today
-- and Senator Tim Hutchinson -- joined me in supporting this legislation, and
I appreciate their strong leadership in the defense of children.

I
thank Congressman Lamar Smith of Texas, the chairman of the House Crime, Terrorism
and Homeland Security Subcommittee, for his leadership. Chairman Smith is holding
hearings today on enhancing child protection in the wake of the supreme Court's
ruling, and we are grateful that he has taken time to join us in support of this
legislation.

I
thank Congressman Mark Foley, the co?chair of the Congressional Missing and Exploited
Children's Caucus, for his leadership. And I thank Congressman Earl Pomeroy for
his support of this important measured.

We
come together today to support this legislation, because the potential ramifications
of the Supreme Court's ruling are very serious. The protection of virtual child
pornography by the Supreme Court threatens the de facto protection of all child
pornography. In a world in which virtual images are increasingly indistinguishable
from reality, prosecutors are now forced to prove that sexually explicit images
involving children were in fact produced through the abuse of children, an extremely
difficult task in today's worldwide Internet child pornography market.

To
avoid conviction, defendants frequently raise the theoretical possibility that
rapidly-advancing computer imaging technology was involved in the production of
the materials, rather than children.

The
Court's ruling comes at a time in which, sadly, the availability of child pornography
is exploding on the Internet. Recently Operation Candy Man uncovered over 7,200
child pornographers who trafficked their obscenity through a single Internet group.
More alarming still is the fact that this investigation signals a strong correlation
between child pornography offenders and molesters of children. In Operation Candy
Man, 13 of the 90 people arrested thus far have admitted to molesting a total
of 48 different children.

In
this thriving market for child pornography, the Supreme Court's legalization of
computer-generated child pornography has created a dangerous window of opportunity
for child abusers to escape prosecution. The Department of Justice remains rock
solid in its commitment to identify, investigate, and prosecute those who sexually
exploit children, regardless of the difficulty involved in the prosecuting effort.

But
we cannot and will not remain silent as obstacles to these prosecutions grow.
The legislation we introduce today is carefully crafted to address the Supreme
Court concerns, while strengthening our ability to eliminate child pornography.
The Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act of 2002 re levels the playing
field for prosecutors and defendants through four changes in the current law.
First, the legislation tightens the definition of "child pornography,"
and ensures that child pornography prosecutions will not be barred merely because
of the theoretical possibility that the material is created through computer imaging.
At the same time, prosecutions that the Court has held violate the First Amendment
will be prevented.

Second,
the legislation generally prohibits the production, distribution and possession
of any visual depictions, real or virtual, of prepubescent children engaged in
sexually explicit conduct.

Third,
the legislation creates more comprehensive offenses prohibiting offers to sell
or provide, and efforts to obtain child pornography, regardless of whether such
depictions are actually provided or received. It also prevents child molesters
from using pornography to exploit children.

Finally,
the legislation establishes a secure database for identifying child pornography
produced with actual children.

Once
again, I thank the members of Congress who join me in support of this legislation,
all of whom have worked long to protect the health and safety of children. As
I indicated when the Supreme Court's decision was announced, the Department of
Justice will continue to use every available resource to prosecute child pornography
cases. I am gratified that these members of Congress have agreed to act, and I
look forward to working with all of these members to see to it that this legislation
becomes law.

Thank
you. It is now my honor and my pleasure to introduce House Majority Whip Tom DeLay.
Tom

REP.
DELAY: Thank you, general. And I am so proud of your leadership in this area,
and in many areas. We have been proud of your leadership when you were in the
Senate, and we ?? every day ?? cease to amaze us of taking ?? of your ability
to take very strong positions, particularly when it comes to very disappointing
decisions that are made by the Supreme Court.

I
just want to thank you for moving swiftly to resolve this problem. We know that
you are extremely busy securing the American homeland, and rounding up elements
of the international terrorist networks. But you understand that this is an issue
that is vitally important to the children of this country. And your involvement
in this issue demonstrates the critical need to protect children from sexual predators.
We need to close that loophole that permits computer depictions of child sexual
abuse. We are in a war with people who exploit children for sexual purposes, and
we have got to win that war. And I thank you, attorney general, for your commitment
to this cause.

The
Court's ruling was a huge disappointment to everyone working to protect children.
The child advocates all over the country know that the consequences of this activity
cause irreparable damage to children. Congress's clear intent was to ban any depiction
or image of children in sexual situations.

This
solution is a very important step in that direction. We will strengthen the law
so that it can pass constitutional review. We greatly appreciate General Ashcroft
for joining with us to develop this effective solution.

We
will move a bill very quickly, and we hope that our friends in the Senate will
pass it just as quickly. Millions of children are depending on us to protect them
from the twisted advances of people and the evil grip of child pornography. We
know that these sick and depraved images are often the catalyst of unspeakable
crimes. They must be eradicated.

Our
fight doesn't end with this legislation. It continues on a number of other fronts.
April was Child Abuse and Neglect Awareness Month. May is Victims of Pornography
Awareness Month. On the 25th, we will recognize National Missing Children's Day.
We will be working with the Judiciary Committee and other leaders on this issue,
and we will continue seeking tools to eliminate the blight of child pornography
and child sexual abuse. So I thank you, general.

ATTY.
GEN. ASHCROFT: Thank you, Tom DeLay. I am pleased now to introduce other individuals
in the Congress who are leaders in the fight against child pornography. From the
state of Alabama, Senator Jeff Sessions.

SEN.
SESSIONS: Thank you, Mr. Attorney General. And I'd just like to make a few brief
remarks. I was a federal prosecutor for 12 years ?? really almost 15, counting
my time as an assistant United States Attorney. And I can say with absolute confidence
that aggressive prosecution of child pornography cases under the clear law established
for depictions of children that has been in effect for many, many years, virtually
eliminated child pornography from any pornography stores or places you would go
in this country today.

The
result was that the group of pornographers, and many of them pedophiles, began
to share the photographs among themselves. And we had some prosecutions in my
district of people who used the mail to ship material of this kind. And there
were successful prosecutions.

Also,
with the availability of the Internet, a trend has moved in that regard to feed
the desires of people who are unhealthy. And, as a result, I think we see some
continuing problems. That was a result -- the reason the '96 statute was passed
-- and I think it's important now that we pass legislation to reestablish the
basics of that.

Of
the people that we prosecuted who were shipping photographs through the mail -
virtually every one of those had a history of sexual abuse. I remember one man
-- he had never had an arrest for it, but in talking with his daughter, who was
in her 30s -- she had been molested as a young child, she told us, many years
before.

Something
about this problem creates a habituation to sexual predator acts, and is very
dangerous. So I think this legislation is real important. I think if we can identify
those people who are dealing in this pornography that we can identify very frequently
people who are abusing sexually others. And, as a result of that, I think we can
help make this a safer community for us to live in, and to identify some people
who may be very dangerous people, who would take even the lives of young girls
or young boys in the process of their sexual activities.

Thank
you, Mr. Attorney General, for moving quickly on this. I hope we will see the
same response in the Senate, Tom, as you expect in the House. I believe we will,
and I look forward to working for it.

ATTY.
GEN. ASHCROFT: Thank you, Senator Sessions, and thank you for your service on
the Judiciary Committee of the Senate.

It
is my pleasure now to introduce Tim Hutchinson, the senator from the state of
Arkansas, whose interest in securing the safety for the children of America is
long well documented. Senator Hutchinson.

SEN.
HUTCHINSON: Thank you, General Ashcroft, and I am pleased to be here, and I want
to thank you and I want to thank your legal team for crafting this legislation
and moving it forward, taking the leadership role in this and giving some direction
to Congress in addressing what I think all America feels is a very serious problem
?? a problem that was exacerbated by the Supreme Court decision. So I applaud
your efforts.

Child
molestation, child exploitation, pedophilia -- terrible problems in our country.
And I believe that these virtual images feed that terrible disease of pedophilia.
So this legislation I think will have broad support, and I along with Senator
Sessions ask for the leadership in the Senate, and our Majority Leader Tom Daschle
to make room in a very busy legislative schedule this year to ensure that this
legislation moves through not just the House but the Senate -- finds its way to
the president's desk before we leave this year.

Thank
you.

ATTY.
GEN. ASHCROFT: Thank you so much, Senator Hutchinson. Lamar Smith of Texas has
already been signaled in my remarks as holding a hearing in regard to this matter
this afternoon. It's a pleasure to have you here. Thank you for your participation
and your help. Thank you.

REP.
SMITH: Thank you, Mr. Attorney General, as well. As the attorney general has just
suggested, and as Tom DeLay has suggested as well, we are going to move very quickly
on this legislation. We have a hearing scheduled at two o'clock this afternoon
in Room 2141 of the Rayburn House Office Building, and of course you all are invited
to attend that hearing. That hearing is primarily on the implications of the Supreme
Court decision. And, as a result of that decision, as the attorney general just
mentioned, the administration has proposed a bill that I introduced on the House
side last night. And all the House members who are here today are original co?sponsors
of that legislation. And so I envision widespread support and bipartisan support
for that legislation as well ?? so much so that my expectation is that we will
have a hearing on the bill itself, and mark it up as soon as next week. So we
expect it to be on a fast track, and with the promise of Tom DeLay that it will
get to the House floor quickly. We want to do everything we can to try to address
the growing problem of child pornography in America.

The
situation here of course is that we need to write a bill that falls within the
limitations that have been imposed upon us by that recent Supreme Court decision.
I believe that this bill does that, and of course we will have hearings to that
effect next week.

I
have to also confess to some disappointment with the Supreme Court decision, largely
because it was based upon a 1982 Supreme Court decision, the Ferber case, 20 years
ago, that distinguished between real photographs -- photographs of real children
and virtual images. Well, as you all know, between 1982 and today we have had
the Internet age, and we now have a situation where we have the technology developed
where it's almost impossible to distinguish between a real child and an image
child, virtual child. And that's part of the problem that we have been presented
because of the Supreme Court decision. So we are going to be looking for ways
not to make it easier for child pornographers to ply their trade, but we are going
to be looking for ways to prevent child pornography and prosecute those who engage
in child pornography. And, as I say, I believe this legislation will do just that.

The
children are probably the most vulnerable members of our society. We need to take
special care to protect them and protect their interests. And as we protect their
interests, we will protect our interests as well. And I appreciate being included
in this news conference and being a part of the effort to pass this legislation.

ATTY.
GEN. ASHCROFT: Thank you very much. Look forward to the hearings. Mark Foley is
the congressman from Florida, southern part of Florida. His interest in this matter
is reflected in his chairmanship or co?chairmanship of one of the caucuses in
the House that is specifically devoted to the safety of children. Congressman
Foley.

REP.
FOLEY: Thank you. The High Court, in siding with pedophiles over children, forced
us into action. Today, united, we begin reversing the damage of that decision.

This
legislation is a pedophile's worst nightmare. It virtually guarantees we are helping
to protect America's children. It doesn't make a difference if the child engaged
in sex is real or virtual. In other words, an old simple saying: If it walks like
a duck, talks like a duck, it is a duck. The courts obviously didn't have a chance,
as Chairman Lamar Smith suggested, to see the kind of virtual reality that is
on computer terminals today. It's as close to reality as possible.

These
pedophiles may have gotten a stay of execution from the Court's decision, but
I
am thrilled the attorney general has acted so quickly.

Chairman
Smith is calling hearings. Legislation will be marked up. And I know President
Bush eagerly awaits to sign a bill that will in fact reverse the damage of last
month's decision.

ATTY.
GEN. ASHCROFT: Thank you, Mark. It is my pleasure now to call upon Earl Pomeroy,
congressman from North Dakota, whose interests in these matters is well understood
and documented. At this time, Earl Pomeroy from North Dakota.

REP.
POMEROY: Thank you, Mr. Attorney General. Our nation is at a dangerous point in
time with child pornography. At the very time the Internet makes distribution
of this easier than ever before, and we are seeing exploding instances of distribution
of child pornography on the Internet, the Supreme Court has now blew a hole in
the statutes used to prosecute the production and possession of child pornography.

It
was extremely important that the attorney general and the Justice Department react
with speed and precision, because getting it quick isn't all we are after. We
need something that will pass muster when reviewed by the Supreme Court. And so
having it conform with the Constitution in all respects as seen by the justices
in the First Amendment was also absolutely critical.

I
believe that the work the attorney general has advanced achieves that end. I am
very pleased that Chairman Smith has allowed me to co?sponsor this legislation,
because there is nothing Republican or Democrat about tolerance for child pornography.
It is repugnant, it is revulsive, and we intend to prohibit it in the strongest
possible terms. An assistant U.S. Attorney in North Dakota has told me he has
basically taken the cases that he was about to bring relative to child pornography,
and put them aside ?? in light of the Supreme Court ruling, he no longer had a
case. We need to put a law back on the books so these files can come back on the
top, front and center, of the prosecutors' desks of this country, and we can sustain
legal action against those that would harm our children in this fashion.

Q
Mr. Attorney General, on a related matter, the Catholic Church seems to be struggling
with this problem, or a related problem. How concerned are you that the church
might be providing safe harbor to pedophiles? And have you looked into what jurisdiction
you have to get into this issue?

ATTY.
GEN. ASHCROFT: The Department of Justice is committed to prosecuting those who
offend our children. And to the extent that the federal law is applicable, we
don't make any differentiation in regard to individuals as to relation to their
position in any church.

Yes,
sir?

Q
General, as you know, the Supreme Court decision was six to three. What specifically
-- what provisions of this bill specifically do you think will turn the Court
around on this issue?

ATTY.
GEN. ASHCROFT: Well, we believe that we have crafted this legislation to provide
a basis for the Court to honor this legislation. We don't think that this is going
to turn the Court around. We think that this legislation will survive the analysis
that the Court used in its previous case.

Our
approach here has been crafted with what that case said in mind.

Yes?

MODERATOR:
Last question.

Q
Attorney General, seven of the nine justices are Republican appointees, including
Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion. I don't have Kennedy's
opinion with me, but it lays out the majority's constitutional problem with the
law, and more or less gives you a blueprint for solving those problems. Do you
really agree with Congressman Foley that the Supreme Court sided with pedophiles
over children? I mean, that's rather strong language?

ATTY.
GEN. ASHCROFT: We believe that the legislation crafted, introduced last night,
which will be the subject of hearings, and is the subject of our news conference
today, will pass. And we believe that it is drafted in respect to and with an
understanding of the objections of the Court. And for those reasons, we believe
that we will be able to again reassert our capacity to protect America's children.
Thank you.